Good Friday and Easter celebrations are unique to the church in that they focus solely upon the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. No other religion has a risen Savior, One who has conquered death, whose coming was foretold for thousands of years, and whose resurrection verified the prophecies of old. But Jesus did just that!
In Revelation 1:18, the glorified Lord spoke to John saying: “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” In Revelation 5, John sees Heaven and describes the scene and the question that he heard asked loudly by a strong angel: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” John wept as he looked around and saw no one responding. Yet one of the elders assured John that he need not weep because the Lion of the tribe of Judah had prevailed to open the scroll and loose its seven seals!
John then saw a Lamb, as though it had been slain, take the scroll out of the hand of Him who sat upon the throne. It led to all of heaven singing praises at the top of their lungs to the Lamb of God, to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to Jesus, the victorious King. “You are worthy to take the scroll, to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
This Lamb and Lion is King and Lord. His death and resurrection is the reason for our hope of heaven, our forgiveness, and eternal life. May He make Himself known to you in a personal way. This Easter, He desires to forgive your sins, fill your heart, and write your name in His book of life!
Thankful for our risen King,
Pastor Jack Abeelen
Ephesians 2:6-7
Paul had a magnificent view of heaven and he reveals here just one of the many wonderful things that saints will experience when we get there: God will show us the immeasurable riches of His grace and the magnitude of His kindness bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus.
Some view heaven merely in terms of escape from hell. Some look forward to the streets of gold or their reunion with loved ones who died before them. Others see heaven as the place of eternal painless rest. But here, Paul reveals that in the ages to come, there will be wave upon wave of glorious revelation. There are more facets of God’s grace than we can count: undeserved kindnesses in blessing after blessing will be revealed until our joy explodes into praise.
Spend just a minute today in humble thanksgiving, letting your hope rise in anticipation of the glory that is to be revealed to us in the age to come. Let the hope of God’s future eternal kindness help you endure with patience the temporary fleeting trials of this world. Take joy in what God will do and let that delight spill over into the rest of your day.
Tom Day
Exodus 20:13
The command to not murder is more than just saying, “Hey, don’t kill someone because that’s not right.” This command speaks to the dignity of human life — to place value on each and everyone’s right to live under the sun as a man or woman created by God. There are cases in the law where taking the life of another is permissible but that is not the emphasis of this command.
This command is to realize that we are created in God’s image and we are to value the life of each image bearer. The laws of God are to sustain life and provide more freedom not less. To live in fear of being murdered by someone is not a freeing feeling but a fearful, restricting one. Imagine how nice it would be if everyone saw value in each other? This world would be a different place.
Well, that’s the next world we get to look forward to but while we are still here, it is always good to be guided by the realities of this command, and realize life matters, in and out of the womb.
Pastor Jason Witt
Joshua 1:9
This chapter starts by telling us that Moses is dead and God began to speak to Joshua. Three times in this one chapter, God tells Joshua “Be strong and courageous.” He tells him in verse 5, “Be strong and of good courage, I’m giving you the land that I promised, and you are going to divide the land.” In verse 7, He says, “Be strong and very courageous, observe to do all the law of Moses because you are going into a lawless land.” Don’t be afraid. Then here in our verse for today, He tells Joshua, “Be strong and of good courage, don’t be afraid, I’m with you wherever you go.” God was going to be with him every step of the way.
I am a firm believer that God wants to take me out of my comfort zone. He wants to put me in situations where all I can do is trust in His promises and lean on Him and what He has said. I’m sure there have been those times where, like Joshua, we had to be in situations that seemed impossible to overcome and to do. Just remember what God told Joshua, be strong and of good courage and do not be afraid, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. There will never be a time where God sends you where He is not willing to go.
Joshua Navarro
Ephesians 1:3
Do you want your life to “bless the Lord?” If you want to love God more, walk in His ways. I would encourage you to open your Bible and write down all the things that God has done for you. You’ll see how He has shown His love for you and how He has been faithful to you. When we see how great God’s unending love is for us, our love and faithfulness toward Him will naturally follow and grow.
He “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” God cannot give us more Spiritually than He has already made available to us. In 2 Peter 1:3, we are told that, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” Paul would write in Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” We have it all, so take full advantage of all we have been given in Christ. Love Him, walk with Him, and faithfully serve Him, blessing our Lord for He is worthy to be praised!
Pastor Doug Hardin
James 2:14
People often accuse James of claiming that we need work to earn our salvation. However, this is not what James is claiming. James is stating that our natural response to God’s grace and forgiveness is to follow after Him. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). As followers of Jesus we are to produce fruit in our lives.
When was the last time you walked by an apple tree and heard it straining to produce an apple? Fruit trees do not need to force themselves to produce fruit, it just comes naturally. James is claiming that the natural response for Christians is to do good works. If you are not doing good works, you should be asking yourself if you have faith at all.
For the King,
Pastor Daniel Batistelli
Have you ever kept a mental list of all the good stuff you’ve done? I fed this homeless dude. I gave five percent more this month in tithes. I didn’t yell at a co-worker for being difficult. Whatever it might be. Paul here is referring to his pedigree of good works in Judaism. If you go back to the previous verses, you can see his impressive list as a devout Jew. But Paul looks at all of these works that were done apart from Christ and says, “I lost so much time with my Lord.”
This same mindset can happen to us! Being religious will never gain you more of Christ in your life. It WILL give you more pats on your back. All of the things I mentioned above are great! But, NONE of these things are where you will develop your relationship with God. They are the byproduct of your heart towards the Lord. Gain Christ through your personal time with the Lord in reading and praying and you will see a great gain in your relationship with Christ and you no longer have to look and say, “I lost so much time with my Lord.”
In Christ,
Pastor Sean Boehm
When I was growing up in Canada, we had a huge vegetable garden in the backyard. Every spring and summer, my mom would pick vegetables and then can them in jars so we would have veggies for the winter. She would always prepare a salt-water solution to put the vegetables in so they would be preserved once they had been sealed in the canning jar.
Those that belong to the Lord and love Him with all their heart are put in God’s enduring preservative and sealed in with His protection. That’s a great promise but the condition once again is that we love Him; that we identify with Him as our Savior; and that we walk in obedience to His will. So when the jar is opened on judgment day, we will have endured because it is Him and Him alone that preserves us.
Lasting in His Love,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
Are you looking for a way to strengthen your walk with the Lord? Look at the first line of this verse – you who love the Lord, hate evil! This is a wicked world in which we dwell, being that it’s ruled by the enemy. He tempts us constantly and tries to make us see evil as acceptable.
That shouldn’t be the mentality of the Christian at all. Indeed we should hate evil and see it for what it really is, offensive to God. Instead we sometimes find ourselves cozying up to evil, letting the things we watch and listen to entertain us instead of offend us.
To have the proper attitude towards evil, we need to put more of God in our minds. Philippians 4:8 says, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. Those are the things which should fill our minds. If they do, we’ll be able to hate evil.
Transform my mind,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
1 Timothy 6:1
In a world where rights are redefined, demanded, and even forcefully pursued, this word from the Lord to being an employee may sound foreign and unworkable. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Our witness in the manner we honor our bosses, the way we work, and our trustworthiness will all bring glory to the Lord and credibility to our claims of belonging to Him.
In a world of selfish disrespect, the believer shines like a light in the darkness. If you are working today, remember that as your employer, your co-workers, and others look on, your behavior may be the cause of someone’s eternal salvation.
Wanting to be a good example in my labors,
Pastor Jack Abeelen
